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In England and Wales, the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner is a statutory office that regulates solicitors, but not barristers. A Commissioner can be appointed by, and is answerable to, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.〔Access to Justice Act 1999, ss.51-52/ Sch.3〕 ==History== When the Access to Justice Act 1999 came into force, government minister Keith Vaz stated to the House of Commons:〔Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (2005) ''p.''5〕 In September 2003, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, criticised the Law Society, the governing body of solicitors, saying:〔 As a result, the Lord Chancellor exercised his powers under the Act to appoint Zahida Manzoor as Commissioner in February 2004.〔 The Commissioner's powers as to the Law Society were to:〔S.52(2)〕 *Require them to report on their handling of complaints about solicitors; *Investigate the handling of complaints; *Make recommendations; *Set targets; *Require the Law Society to submit a plan for the handling of complaints. If the Law Society failed to submit a plan or adequately handle complaints, the Commissioner could impose a penalty of up to £1 million, or 1% of the Society's annual income if that is less.〔 In 2005, the Law Society divided its functions among the Society, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Complaints Service but by May 2006, the Society's efforts to remedy its own deficiencies were still giving concern to the Commissioner.〔Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (2006) ''p.''6〕 As a result, a penalty of £220,000 was levied.〔Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (2007) ''p.''7〕 The Commissioner subsequently recognised that progress was being made〔 and in April 2007, advised the Society that their Complaints Handling Plan adequately addressed the concerns. However, in April 2008, the Commissioner reported that "Results show that despite some improvements in all target areas set, there are still failures ... to consistently apply their policies, processes and customer standards."〔Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (2008) ''p.''13〕 On 3 June 2008, the Commissioner fined the Law Society £275,000 over the inadequacy of its complaints handling plan for the forthcoming year. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Legal Services Complaints Commissioner」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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